Tom Jones to sell mam's home

TOM JONES is seeking a buyer for the $5.5m home which his beloved mother lived in for 24 years.

TOM JONES is seeking a buyer for the $5.5m home which his beloved mother lived in for 24 years.

The singer has also put a luxury Bel Air home he recently bought for his sister back on the market because she prefers living in a bungalow.

Selling his mother Freda's home in Los Angeles can't be easy for Tom. He spent thousands on round-the-clock care for the 81-year-old and was devastated when she died in 2003, cancelling concerts and later dedicating his Brit award to her memory. His father Thomas died in 1981.

The estate agent's fact sheet describes the property as a "sensational mid-century modern on a private 2.5 acre knoll". As well as stunning views of both the city and the sea, added extras include a fireplace and a wet bar in the master bedroom, marble flooring and a library.

As well as providing for his parents, the multi-millionaire shelled out another $1.7m (#940,000) to buy a luxury four-bedroom residence in Los Angeles for his sister Sheila.

The house, with four bedrooms and three bathrooms, also has a pool, tennis courts and a private gym. But for Sheila it was a more simple feature which caused her to turn down her brother's gift after just a few months: the stairs.

While some may label Sheila ungrateful, it's not unusual to like bungalows better than houses with more than one storey, according to research by Halifax General Insurance.

A research project earlier this year found that people are most content with a house which has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a small garden and, most importantly, no stairs.

Findings also showed that bungalows are rated by their owners as 8.15 out of 10 on a happiness scale, higher than any other type of dwelling.

Simon Bradley of the Social Issues Research Centre said, "Arguably the most surprising finding to those of us who live in flats or homes with more than one storey is that the happiest homes are bungalows. Across all types of dwellings, however, the consensus is that they should be safe, secure, spacious, light, located in an area with a low crime rate and have good neighbours."

Researchers found that 12 key factors determined how happy people were in their homes, including privacy, having a garden and the crime rate of the area.

David Rochester of Halifax General Insurance said, "What is interesting is that there isn't a direct relationship between any of these factors and happiness.

"We were interested to find that factors such as crime rate, privacy and sense of community have a more direct impact on happiness, which suggests that a sense of security is a major determination of a contented home life."

But home happiness is also a matter of age: the over-50s, the primary age group when it comes to bungalow ownership, have significantly happier homes than their younger counterparts. So if Sheila is already a bungalow fan now, chances are as she gets older she'll never fall in love with a two-storey again.

Page 2: Five things you never knew about bungalows

Five things you never knew about bungalows

Bungalows originated in India when the British moved into Bengal and discovered a local hut called a bunglas or bunggalos

A typical bunggalos was made of bamboo with a thatch on top

The first bungalow in Britain was built by Colonel Bragg who, returning from India, built an Indian-style lodge in the 1860s and called it The Bungalow

Architect John Taylor built the first bungalow development at Westgate , Kent, in 1869

In the 1920s, British manufacturers exported prefab versions of the bungalow to America, South Africa, Canada, Australia and even back to India.

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